| |
Mumbai Indians crush Chennai by 8 wickets in IPL 5 opener
IPL-5, CSK-Mumbai Indians match, IPL 2012 Schedule, IPL Teams 2012, IPL News 2012
Mumbai Indians stormed the Chennai Super Kings bastion in the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League season five here on Wednesday.
The eight-wicket loss was CSK's first in IPL at home since April 15, 2010 and it had a lot to do with the grass on the relaid pitch. The ball was doing a bit and the Mumbai Indians bowlers hit the right length, which made things difficult for the famed Chennai top-order. Once pushed to the back foot, it wasn't easy for the batsmen to play with the kind of freedom that they are used to and the variety in the Mumbai attack did the rest.
113 is hardly a target for Mumbai's batting and all they had to do was not to lose early wickets. Sachin Tendulkar saw that Albie Morkel was making the ball talk and he left a few, which is a rarity in T20 cricket. And when there was anything marginally loose, Tendulkar made full use of it. There was a lot of interest about the other opener Richard Levi (50 off 35 balls), who was making his IPL debut. Levi, with the fastest T20 international ton, was under no pressure and with the Little Master guiding him, things became easy.
Earlier, Tendulkar had conjured a moment of magic by creating room and easing paceman Albie Morkel over covers for a rousing six.
Ambati Rayudu and James Franklin closed out the match for Mumbai Indians. Rayudu guided Bollinger over third man for a six to signal an emphatic win for Mumbai Indians.
CSK's collapse was inexplicable. There was no alarming movement for the pacemen nor did the spinners achieve sizable turn.
The Mumbai Indians bowling was disciplined and the fielding sharp, but CSK dug the hole for itself. And the three run-outs — the running between wickets lacked conviction — did not help matters either.
To his credit, Harbhajan, apart from winning the toss, led the side capably. He kept the fielders in to create pressure, narrowed down the angles in the deep and rung in the changes well.
Apart from a thrill-a-minute 36 from Suresh Raina, there was little in terms of contributions from the CSK line-up.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha's spell turned the game on its head. Ojha flighted but was helped by the fact that both Raina and Bravo reached out for him. Raina went after a delivery well outside off to be held at sweeper cover. And Bravo (19), driving fluently through the off-side until that point, picked a delivery beyond leg to be held at long-on.
Mumbai Indians made further inroads. Kieron Pollard, employing his height and shoulders to extract bounce, had Morkel swinging a short one to Ojha at deep square-leg.
SCOREBOARD
Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis (run out) 3 (2b), M. Vijay c Harbhajan b Franklin 10 (17b, 1x4), S. Raina c Malinga b Ojha 36 (26b, 2x4, 1x6), Dwayne Bravo c Pollard b Ojha 19 (19b, 3x4), Albie Morkel c Ojha b Pollard 3 (8b), S. Badrinath c Harbhajan b Pollard 10 (16b), M.S. Dhoni (run out) 4 (6b), R. Jadeja b Malinga 3 (5b), R. Ashwin (run out) 3 (5b), S. Jakati (not out) 6 (10b), D. Bollinger c Rohit b Malinga 3 (5b); Extras (lb-5, w-7): 12; Total (in 19.5 overs): 112.
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (du Plessis), 2-38 (Vijay), 3-75 (Raina), 4-80 (Bravo), 5-85 (Morkel), 6-95 (Dhoni), 7-99 (Badrinath), 8-103 (Ashwin), 9-104 (Jadeja).
Mumbai Indians bowling: Malinga 3.5-0-16-2, Abu Nechim 2-0-17-0, Harbhajan 4-0-24-0, Franklin 2-0-18-1, Ojha 4-0-17-2, Pollard 4-0-15-2.
Mumbai Indians: R. Levi c Bollinger b Bravo 50 (35b, 6x4, 3x6), S. Tendulkar (retired hurt) 16 (15b, 1x4, 1x6), Rohit c Dhoni b Bollinger 0 (3b), A. Rayudu (not out) 18 (18b, 1x6), J. Franklin (not out) 25 (30b, 2x4); Extras (lb-3, w-3): 6; Total (for two wkts. in 16.5 overs): 115.
Fall of wickets: 1-69 (Levi), 2-70 (Rohit).
Chennai Super Kings bowling: Morkel 4-0-20-0, Bollinger 3.5-0-34-1, Ashwin 4-0-20-0, Jadeja 1-0-16-0, Bravo 3-0-14-1, Jakati 1-0-8-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Richard Levi.
Wed 04 Apr, 2012,10:05:30 PM
|